Hinged dead end



Sept. 27, 1966 s. P. BECKER 3,274,654

HINGED DEAD END Filed Aug. 4, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Lk INVENTOR ST'PA/f/V P. set/(GK ATTORNEYS Sept. 27, 1966 s. P. BECKER HINGED DEAD END 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 4, 1964 FIG. 8

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ATTORNEYS Se t. 27, 1966 s. P. BECKER 3,274,654

HINGED DEAD END Filed Aug. 4, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR s'n-vwe lv. P. 866k 6'? BY (W I 9 a ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,274,654 GED DEAD END Stephen 1. Becker, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., assignor to Fargo Mfg. Company, Inc, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 387,387 4 Claims. (Cl. 24-125) This invention relates generally to couplings of the type referred to as dead ends as used in connection with electrical power transmission lines and more particularly to a dead end of unique design in which the pressure pad is hingedly attached at one side to the body of the connector.

As is well understood in the art, it is frequently desirable to have the ends of an electrical transmission line anchored to a supporting structure and for this purpose couplings referred to as dead ends are often utilized. Often dead ends are applied to the end of a cable when the cable is charged so that hot line tools are required which in turn requires that the design of the dead end lend itself to ready manipulation with hot line tools both as to ease of use and from the point of view of safety.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a dead end of the compression type in which all parts are attached prior to installation so that no separate unattached parts need be handled during installation.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a compression type dead end of such design that the end of the cable to be placed therein can be laid in a channel in the dead end or threaded in axally from one end as desired.

'It is a further object of the invention to provide a compression-type dead end which can accommodate and securely hold a range of diiferent diameter conductors.

A dead end connector embodying the invention and the manner of using the same is described herein with references to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a dead end connector of the type presently known in the art;

FIG. 2 is a perspective View of a dead end connector constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention with the pressure pad exploded from the body in the open position thereof;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the dead end connector shown in FIG. 2 with the pressure pad in the closed position thereof;

FIG. 4 is an end elevation of the dead end connector shown in FIG. 3;

'FIG. 5 is a top view of the dead end connector shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along the line 66 in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along the line 7--.7 in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 5; and

\FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of the dead end connector shown in FIG. 3.

In FIG. 1 a dead end connector of a type commonly known in the art is shown and indicated by the numeral 10. Connector 10 consists of body 11 and pressure pad 12 which are distinctly separate units held together by U-bolts 13 and 14 and nuts 15. Open channel 16 having a flared end 17 is formed in body 11 facing pressure pad 12 which can be drawn toward the channel by tightening "ice of nuts 15. In order to maintain the pressure pad in the proper axial position when the nuts 15 are tightened, transverse grooves 18 are formed in the surface of the pressure pad to receive U-bolts 1'3 and 14. Eyes 19 and 20 are for-med in pressure pad 12 and body 11, respectively, in order to facilitate utilization of connector 10 by hot line tools.

In order to use the device shown in FIG. 1 a lineman would loosen bolts 13 and 14 by manipulation of nuts 15 and raise the body by use of hot line tools and then attempt to thread the end of the cable into the channel by means of flare 17 while raising pressure pad 12 in order to allow the cable end to pass beneath it. Such a manipulation with heavy cables, connectors, and hot line tools is not only diflicult but very dangerous.

[Because of the difliculty of threading the end of the cable into channel 16 axially it is often most desirable, although equally diflicult and dangerous, to actually remove pressure pad 12 from body 11 and place the pressure pad in position, place the cable end into open channel 16 by laying it in, and then position pressure pad 12 above the cable and then drop U-bolts 1'3 and 14 into position through the holes formed in the body 11 to receive them while placing the U-bolts in grooves 18 and then threading nuts 15 on the ends of the U bolts and tightening the nuts until sufficient radial pressure has been developed by the pressure pad to maintain the cable in position and prevent it from pulling out through axial forces.

It is abundantly clear that the connector disclosed in 'FIG. 1 and now used in the art is both diflicult to utilize and extremely dangerous since the lineman must use hot line tools making it diflicult for him to manipulate the many parts with the result that often the aflixing of such a dead end connector to the end of the cable is extremely tedious, time consuming and wearing on the lineman. It is not uncommon for the lineman to drop parts of the connector which requires beginning the procedure all over again. The dropping of parts could result in injury and especially the problem of working with a hot line makes such dead end connectors undesirable.

FIGS. 2-8 illustrate a dead end connector which has been constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention and to replace connector 10 shown in FIG. 1. The dead end connector shown in FIGS. 2-8 has been indicated herein by the numeral 21, and consists of body 22 and pressure pad 23 hingedly connected thereto by means of elongated hook-line projections 24 and 25 formed on the pressure pad and received in grooves 26 and 27, respectively, in flanges 28 and 29 of body 22. Cable receiving groove 30 is formed in face 31 of body 22 and groove 32 is formed in pressure pad 23. In FIG. 2 both grooves 30 and 32 are visible and although this is an exploded view it illustrates the open position of the pressure pad however in actual practice projections 24 and 25 remain in grooves 26 and 27 in the open position as well as in the closed position.

Body 22 is also formed with an eye 33 to allow manipulation thereof with hot line tools, eyes 34 to allow fastening to a supporting structure or manipulation, and a plurality of projections 35 on the side thereof opposite flanges 28 and 29 forming bolt-receiving wells 36. A shoulder 37 is provided at the end of each well in the plane of surface 31 so that the width of the well at this 3 end is less than the width of the remainder of the well. In the embodiment disclosed herein, three such wells 36 are provided, although any reasonable number other than three can be used, so that each can receive therein in the closed position of pressure pad 23 a respective bolt 38 passing through a passage 39 provided in the pressure pad.

Each of the bolts 38 is provided with threads and a nut 40. Grommets 41 and 42 are provided and spaced a distance apart greater than the depth of its respective well. Plastic grommet 41 holds the bolt in position to gether with bolt head 43 when the pressure pad is in the open position and grommet 42 holds washer 44 in position adjacent nut 40. The spacing of grommets 41 and 42 allows the body of bolt 38 between the grommets to be received within its respective well 36 upon the movement of the pressure pad from open to closed position. In actual practice, as will become obvious below when the use of the device is considered, grommet 41 will be squashed and destroyed upon the tightening of nut 40 on bolt 38- in the closed position.

Also the arrangement can be reversed, or either the body or the pressure pad can contain threaded inserts eliminating the use of nuts.

It is noted that passage 39 is provided with a section 45 through which a portion of the body of bolt 38 passes and a section 46 within which bolt head 43 is maintained since the axial width of section 45 is uniform and slightly greater than the diameter of bolt 38 and the axial width of section 46 is greater than that of section 46 so that bolt head 43 cannot slip into section 45 but is free to move within section 46 between two extreme positions of bolt 38. One of the extreme positions of bolt 38 is represented by the center line AA wherein bolt 38 has a portion adjacent wall 47 of passage 39 and the other extreme position when the bolt is adjacent wall 48 of passage 39 as represented by center line BB in FIG. 6. As will become obvious below, when center line AA represents the position of the bolt, the distance represented by the letter C in FIG. 6 is less than it would be when center line BB represents the position of bolt 38. In order to allow proper bolt action between the two extreme positions, section 46 is formed arcuately at its lower edge 46' and arcuate surface 31' is provided on body 22 on the side opposite surface 31 and against which grommet 42 is urged upon tightening of nut 40. With this arrangement a variety of diameters of cables, such as cable 49 shown in phantom in FIG. 4, can be received within the space formed by grooves 30 and 32 in the closed position of the pressure pad 23.

Eye 50 is provided on a projection of pressure pad 23 to allow manipulation of the pressure pad by hot line tools between an open position of the pressure pad as seen in FIG. 2 and the closed position of the pressure pad as seen in views of FIGS. 3-8.

It is noted that the design disclosed in FIGS. 2-8 utilizes two castings and the provision of hook-like projections 24 and 25 received within grooves 26 and 27 provides a simple interlock hinge which maintains the two units in a connected manner in both the open and the closed position of the pressure pad. It is also noted that hook members 24 and 25 are provided with pointed contact surfaces 24' and 25' which contact arcuate surfaces 28' and 29' formed on flanges 28 and 29, respectively. The utilization of a point contact surface adjacent an arcuate contact surface is provided since for proper utilization of the coupling a combination of arcuate contact surfaces not be desirable.

As shown in FIG. 7, a spring 51 can be utilized to yieldingly urge the pressure pad into its open position. This is an optional feature and the device will function properly from a mechanical point of view without utilization of the spring.

With the dead end coupling shown in FIGS. 2-8 a lineman has a device which is a unit having all parts thereof interconnected so that the danger of dropping any part is eliminated, In addition, the number of manipulations required is reduced as in use the lineman would place the pressure pad in its open position and with :a hot line tool in one hand hold the connector and with a hot line tool in the other hand place the cable end in channel 30 and then merely flip the pressure pad into the closed position so that channel 32 embraces the cable. This action will allow the bolts 38 to enter Wells 36 so that all the lineman need do is to tighten nuts 40 until sufficient radial force has been applied to the cable within channels 30 and 32 to hold it in position.

The arcuate surfaces 46' and 41' allow for firm gripping of a range of cable diameters.

The simple and safe utilization of the device of the subject invention by the utilization of a hinged dead end coupling facilitates the use of a dead end and eliminates the necessity in certain applications of attempting to place the cable end in a channel of a dead end of the type shown in FIG. 1 by threading it within the channel utilizing a flared bore.

The V groove in channel 30 and channel 32 allows align ment of the cable regardless of the cable size and the surfaces of channels 30 and 32 in contact with the cable can be provided with serrations to aid in gripping and holding the cable end. Additionally, offsetting eyes 33 and 50 has been found to facilitate utilization of the connector since the spacing between the eyes in the closed position of the pressure pad eliminates interference by one eye when the lineman is attempting to manipulate by means of the other line.

Thus, among others, the several objects of the invention, as specifically aforenoted, are achieved. Obviously, numerous changes in construction and rearrangement of the parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

I claim:

1. A dead end connector for a transmission cable including an elongated body, a cable-receiving longitudinal channel formed in said body, a pressure pad, a flange projecting from said body, a slot provided in said flange, an underlying first contact surface at the free end of said flange, a hook member projecting from said pressure pad and through said slot, a second contact surface formed on said hook member engaging said first contact surface in the closed position of said pressure pad, one of said contact surfaces being arcuate and the other of said contact surfaces being pointed forming a hinged connection, and first and second cooperating coupling means attached to said pressure pad and said body respectively with said channel between said hinged connection and said second coupling means whereby said pressure pad overlies said channel when said first and second coupling means are in cooperative relationship.

2. A dead end connector for a transmission cable in accordance with claim 1 in which said channel is V- shaped and a corresponding facing V-shaped channel is formed in said pressure pad.

3. A dead end connector for a transmission cable in accordance with claim 2 in which the surfaces of said V-shaped channels are serrated.

4. A dead end connector for a transmission cable including an elongated body, a cable-receiving longitudinal channel formed in said body, a pressure pad, a hinged connection of said pressure pad and said body, a bolt receiving passage in said pressure pad, a bolt within said passage, a head of said bolt, a restricted dimension portion of said passage through which said head is unable to pass, a bolt-receiving Well of said body which upon movement of said pressure pad to said closed position receives said bolt to be fastened therein, said channel lying between said hinged connection and said bolt-receiving well, whereby said pressure pad overlies said channel when said bolt and said bolt-receiving well are in co operative relationship, said restricted dimension section being formed with an arcuate edge upon which said head 5 6 can rest throughout a range of relatively open positions 1,920,970 8/1933 Chevalier 24-125 of said pressure pad and said body is formed with a com- 2,559,187 7/ 1951 Clapp 24-132 X plementary arcuate surface against which a nut attached 2,849,777 9/1958 Ridgers 24-135 X to the end of said bolt can rest throughout said range. 2,985,933 5/ 1961 Peterson 24-132 5 3,059,955 10/1962 Thurston 24-133 X References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,081,094 5/1960 Germany.

9/ 1914 Kuhns 24-135 3,043 2/1897 Great Britain. 9/1926 Wright 24-135 10/ 1929 Snead 24-135 10 BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner.

6/1931 COates 339-266 

1. A DEAD END CONNECTOR FOR A TRANSMISSION CABLE INCLUDING AN ELONGATED BODY, A CABLE-RECEIVING LONGITUDINAL CHANNEL FORMED IN SAID BODY, A PRESSURE PAD, A FLANGE PROJECTING FROM SAID BODY, A SLOT PROVIDED IN SAID FLANGE, AN UNDERLYING FIRST CONTACT SURFACE AT THE FREE END OF SAID FLANGE, A HOOK MEMBER PROJECTING FROM SAID PRESSURE PAD AND THROUGH SAID SLOT, A SECOND CONTACT SURFACE FORMED ON SAID HOOK MEMBER ENGAGING SAID FIRST CONTACT SURFACE IN THE CLOSED POSITION OF SAID PRESSURE PAD, ONE OF SAID CONTACT SURFACES BEING ARCUATE AND THE OTHER OF SAID CONTACT SURFACES BEING POINTED FORMING A HINGED CONNECTION, AND FIRST AND SECOND COOPERATING COUPLING MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID PRESSURE PAD AND SAID BODY RESPECTIVELY WITH SAID CHANNEL BETWEEN SAID HINGED CONNECTION AND SAID SECOND COUPLING MEANS WHEREBY SAID PRESSURE PAD OVERLIES SAID CHANNEL WHEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND COUPLING MEANS ARE IN COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP. 